No Fair Deal for Sacked Employees Government lawyer ignores Tribunal chairman's ruling with impunity A ruling by Industrial tribunal chairman Isaac Massias that he would not consider any written requests in relation to the claims of unfair dismissal by the Social Services Agency of former Dr Giraldi Home manager Joanna Hernandez, points to further "obstructive delays by Government" as part of its attempt to cover up allegations of sexual and other abuse at the home and within the Agency. Ms Hernandez believes that her decision to blow the whistle on these abuses led to her dismissal. Massias was reacting to a complaint by Opposition Leader Joe Bossano earlier this week that although Hernandez had been forced to provide the Government's lawyers with details of evidence and had been given a 14-day time limit to do so, Mark Isola who, instructed by the Attorney General, is appearing for the Agency has consistently flaunted the order for him to respond in a similar fashion.
After a string of obstructions and procrastinations, at a brief sitting of the Tribunal in January Isola was finally given seven days to comply with the chairman's earlier orders to provide the material requested by Hernandez. He failed to do so, but asked for and was granted an extension. That, too, has lapsed and this week prompted an angry and official response from the Opposition GSLP.
Massias's latest decision and the Government's manipulations also call into question "whether employees dismissed from Government-controlled bodies can really expect to receive the proper protection that the law on unfair dismissal is supposed to provide," Bossano, who is representing Hernandez at the Tribunal hearings, told VOX yesterday.
The chairman of the Tribunal - appointed, with others, by No 6 officials - has already raised legal eyebrows and infuriated trades unionists and opposition politicians by his decision to refuse to subpoena Health Minister Yvette del Agua to give evidence at the hearing. This has become as much a probe into Hernandez's dismissal as an airing of allegations about abuses within the Agency when Del Aguia was Minister for Social Services under whose aegis it fell.
The allegations led to a call in November from the PDP, the GSLP and the TGWU for the Government to hold a public inquiry into the running of the Agency. But, despite growing public concern about the Agency and the GHA, the Government continues to ignore the calls.
Delays and Imbalances As an angry Joe Bossano finally "went public" with his concerns about the delays and imbalances in the hearing of the Hernandez dispute, the GSLP issued an official press release outlining their concerns.
The Industrial Tribunal has been asked to exclude the arguments of the Social Services Agency in the hearing of the unfair dismissal complaint by Ms J Hernandez, following persistent failures on their part to provide disclosure of information.
This information was requested from the Attorney General's office in July 2006 when it was stated that all relevant information had been disclosed. Disclosure was asked of all the records relating to the dismissal of Joanna Hernandez as Manager of Dr Giraldi Homes in October 2005. These basic requirements to provide information have not yet been complied with.
In September 2006 when the case was contracted out by the Attorney General Chambers to Messrs. Triay & Triay, one of the first steps taken by the law firm was to ask for the case to be thrown out if the statements of the complainant's witnesses were not submitted within 14 days.
Since then they have persistently failed to provide the information requested of them.
Eventually the Tribunal issued an order requiring that the information be provided. At the last hearing the Agency lawyers said that they were not yet ready.
The latest exchange was on January 30th when they said they could not meet the deadline but that the information would be provided by close of business 1st February. Two further weeks have further passed and still no information has been provided. It is an absolute disgrace that a public statuary body should be conducting itself in this manner and that the Attorney General's chamber that has been involved in this case since the dismissal took place should idly stand by and allow this to happen.
It puts in question whether employees dismissed from Government controlled entities can really expect to receive the proper protection that the law on unfair dismissal is supposed to provide
In a further remarkable twist to the disgraceful saga of contrived delays, Massias told Bossano that he would not consider the latter's written request and that any call for the Government's representative to be ordered to comply with the Tribunal's earlier ruling on disclosing evidence would have to be before a special "directions hearing" of the Tribunal. This has now been set for Tuesday.
Aspects of the complex obstructiveness by Isola and the Government have now become ludicrous, Bossano agreed yesterday.
‘Labour Inspectors' Consulted He pointed out that in initial moves related to the hearing the Attorney General had consulted "labour inspectors" about the terms of Ms Hernandez' dismissal.
"We want to know who these were, what they said and why they were consulted," Bossano told VOX yesterday. "And does this mean that the Government or its agencies now rely on the labour inspectorate to decide who should be dismissed. It's the directorate's duty to look after the workers' interests - not the other way round."
http://www.vox.gi/Local/No_Fair_Deal_Sacked_Employees-22022008.html 
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